1. Interactive Media andGame Development Project

2. Game Idea Suggestions • Goal: build complete, mini-game • Constrain idea by resources (time) • Think small (done by Wednesday!) • Options: • Take tutorial and modify • Custom art • New gameplay (ie- powerups, weapons) • Boss levels • Redo 2D game you know • Space Invaders, Donkey Kong, Pacman • Custom game • If completely from scratch, think smaller • Remember Genres good for Game Maker • See other Game Maker games made for inspiration

3. Good Communication • All games begin with an idea • Original, mod of earlier game, or from sequel, film license • But an idea alone is not enough • Need enough elaboration that team members can begin their work • Programmers to deliver features • Artists to bring the various characters and places to life with sound and graphics • Designers to put together entertaining world • Testers to verify and communicate shortcomings back • Documentation is integral to every role in the game development process • Here, we just want communication

4. Building Your Game (1 of 2) • Can be solo • Can be group! • 2 ideal • A little planning goes a long way … • Determine game idea • Design art and gameplay • Determine art assets needed • Sound, music, tiles, sprites • For sprites, consider directions and frames for movement

5. Building Your Game (2 of 2) • Determine tasks (different if from scratch versus extend tutorial) • Sprites/Tiles to draw • Art to select • Sound to select • Objects to program • Testing • Don’t forget splash screen, directions … • If group, assign tasks • Pair-programming encouraged • Create timeline • Approximate, number of hours or chunks of time • Work backwards from due time • Build + Test

6. “Home Work” • Brief write of Game Plan • 1 page, max 2 • Title and Description • Descriptive title • One-sentence description - Distilling game concept down to a single sentence can help pin down what's core • Game Summary • Describe game in attention-grabbing paragraph • List of novel features • Task List • Custom to game • Bring to class and I’ll provide feedback